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I'm excited about the new patch and want to do the ultimate challenge. What do I need to do ensure that my attempt is verified? Is the savefile enough or do I need to record the many hours of play? If recording all the gameplay is necessary, is there a recommended software to use? I can't wait to attempt this. I want one of those 50 boss patches!

I started a new game to check Hylea's challenge and here are some interesting things:
- Vela is not on the deck during the first fight (against Benweth's crew)
- She joins when you are free to move on the beach
- You can't control her (to move her away or reposition her during combat) and she doesn't show up in the formation editor
- She will follow the Watcher but she alternates between brief moments of moving and standing still (you can keep her far from combat by moving the Watcher)
- She enters stealth mode when the Watcher does, but I'm not sure if she has a stealth skill level that is checked when enemies are nearby
- You can't talk or interact with her, but she speak sometimes, including what I believe is a new line for her (about being safe with the captain)
- She moves by herself even when you are standing still
- When combat begins she crouches and feels afraid (see picture below), but I've also seen her simply walking as if nothing was happening, just beside an enemy! (see the other picture)
- Playing with Skaen's Challenge is not recommended
- She seems to have 20 HP (on Veteran) and negative defenses (see picture at the end). You can heal and affect her with chants. I didn't test buff or debuffs
So, what are your strategies and experiences when bringing her along?
Note: I didn't play much, so I'll correct anything that I got wrong later.
Edit: one of the first enemies got an overpenetration after she bravely walked past me and Eder. Imagine high level enemies!

Some of you might remember me from the good old Level-1-Noober-Challenge or the Naked-Challenge in PoE 1 so a warm "hello again" to all stumbling into this post!
First i must admit that i love PoE 2 after starting it two weeks ago but - on the same hand - it starts to bore me again and again so i did not completed a single run even though i have created dozens of characters now - mostly using TCS settings.
I started the game completly blind using Monks and Druids as i played them the most in PoE 1. The problem was: They lacked the easy escape buttons and died many times due to ambushes or bad luck (yeah, lack of metagame knowledge here!). I then started switching to priest and rogue multiclass. Hellwalker/Priest of Skaen was fun, my current Shifter/Trickster even more. Concepts of a Paladin/Trickster also sound very promising. However. My question to the community is: What do you think is the most capable class to beat PoE 2 (plus DLC) using the following rules:
1. Complete the game without wearing any armor, boots, gloves, helmets, or accessories in combat. 2. Path of the Damned or Triple Crown Solo.
3. No Berath Blessings.
4. No retraining.
5. Upscaling for all enemies.
6. Collect all bounties.
7. Finish the main game plus the DLC´s.
8. Chanters are banned.
9. No AI scripts.
10. Difficulty increasing Mods like Deadly Deadfire are optional but highly welcome - your choice!
There are only a couple of execptions to play through the game:
1. You may use things like Camping Supply, Lock Pick, Hook, Prybar, Hammer and Chisel, Rope and Grapling Hook. 2. You may use plot/quest items for their plot/quest purposes. 3. You may use gold for quests, resting or visiting brothels.
4. You may use gold to build up your ship.
As i personally play only using Triple Crown settings i have died many times running into unknown territory AND lacking the easy escape options (Withdraw, Smoke Veil, Shadowing Beyond...). Splittpulling still works but seems to be much harder than in PoE 1 as enemies tend to follow forever if you cant outrun them. Is there a way around? Another major concern is the fight against the Guardian of Ukaizo. Will any naked character stand a chance here? I know that the battle can be skipped using invisibility but somehow that feels lame. Is there a way to "talk him down"? However: Before tiping too much nonsense i am eager to read about your ideas. Thanks!
P.S. Maybe @Reent will wake up again playing another Chanter?

Short: POTD, direct route to Gorecci street after clearing the beach. No spending gold (except crafting), no free bonuses, no cheese.
BIG HEAD MODE MANDATORY!
Complex rules:
- POTD , upscaling only
- NO BLESSINGS! NO DLC items / Collectors Edition / Console command pets (only the astral pig is okay for roleplaying reasons!).
- benevolent backstory! but DO NOT USE HYLEAS BOUNTY!
- pick up Eder and Xoti whenever you like!
- (allowed to) full clear everything on the beach! (including the cave)
- Stay on the route to port maje, you are only allowed to take what you can see from the road (ale and fresh fruit)
- NO TALKING to anyone that isnt on the beach OR directly related to the gorecci quest (i.e. the woman in the prison who gives you the quest).
- You are allowed to LOOT everything u can in the main area of port maje (i didnt go into the tavern or into the mayors house) but DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE THAT ISNT REQUIRED (for the things mentioned above)!
- This means NO recruiting, NO buying items! ONLY LOOT (+crafting!)!
- You HAVE to hard engage the entire group at the well! (NO pulling half of them! NO kiting around walls!) You may stealth into position / move (since they dont aggro right away)
Screen of the difficulty:
https://ibb.co/krBAwo
^This puts you at level 2 with some drugs,pots and food.
FINISHED WITH:
Moon Godlike Kind Wayfarers Paladin+Drug Monk multiclass (named Gorecci), Xoti monk/priest , Eder fighter
https://ibb.co/dH312T
Finished Fight:
https://ibb.co/dDsYGo
So the setup i used was around the wizard who just HAS to die instantly, in fact i HAD to hit the first knockdown as well since his 1 cast is jolting touch which just fks you up.
Setup:
https://ibb.co/mES0wo
On my first try i got an insane roll as well
https://ibb.co/eeNuNT
hitting for 49 damage but still ended up dying because the fighters ended up blocking the way down and that ONE bloody archer just deleted me...
Eder got instagibbed on my 2nd try but thanks to his op armor passive i got to push thru AND
Got past the fighters while taking only a few disengage attacks and the archer
https://ibb.co/hSJqwo
Still almost fked up my main character in 2 hits
https://ibb.co/htjkU8
But after the archer was dead and my party was still pretty alive it was just easy cleanup as seen on top.
https://ibb.co/dDsYGo
Items used:
Ripple sponge (crafted) was the mvp imo. +15%dmg -5% speed drug on eder, the interrupt drug on xoti though i didnt see any interrupts and would probably have prefered svef.
A bunch of pots (like 3 in a row on xoti while she was solo tanking the 2 fighters while my other 2 chars were dealing with the last archer). and then some
Stun bombs (20% chance to hit on 4 ppl gave me like 1 graze/hit each of the 2 times i used them. Probably not using those again...
Food: Grog on MC and fresh fruit on xoti and eder
TAKE THE CHALLENGE AND SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE/BUILD
GIT GUD

I'd love it if the design team could address this question at some point. I'm not in the habit of using message boards, so apologies if I'm missing some of the etiquette or if this is addressed elsewhere (But I don't think it has been).
If a veteran of RPGs plays PoE 1 with all the latest updates and expansions on the highest difficulty level, its entirely possible for them to advance levels very quickly relative to the core game content, particularly if they seek out and pursue lots of challenging side content. This is paradoxically offset by the frustration of *not getting XP* for kills, either because they hit the XP cap for monsters very quickly (as there are so many enemies on Path of the Damned) or because they out-level hostile NPCs.
The main drawback of this is that it means a large handful of encounters become unchallenging for experienced players. Is this going to be addressed in PoE 2? Obviously its a relatively complex design issue; but, for example, probably the simplest solution would be to add an option that makes you level up more slowly (i.e. by requiring more XP).
I'd love to ask this question directly of someone on the design team; I understand it's only relevant to a small group of veteran players but I just wanted to get this out there publicly.
So excited for PoE 2!
Edit: The title of this post should be: "Question about Making the Game Challenging" but I forgot the "M" and don't know how to fix it!

Hello,
I think the latest update might have broken completing challenges. I completed my challenge earlier today (5/5 Allies Acquired - A Friend Indeed). It shows completed, and has the checkbox checked. The Happy Holidays tracker now shows 1/4. However the "Pickup Rewards" section for the Challenges does not contain anything for me to pick-up. Sad day.
Just wanted to mention it in case this is a new issue and others encounter the same problem.
I'm on the phone version of the game if that helps.
Thanks

Intro Greetings, all! I'm doing a Spotty run - solo Path of the Damned (SPOTD). Why? Because I think I've found a winning formula! The short answer? Bide my time with super high defenses then summon disposable minions and traps - repeatedly! (I call it "Stalling for summoning!" or SFS for short!) Having soloed Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition, and much of Baldur's Gate II, I learned the best way to solo any game is to make your one unit have the strength of many via mind control, crowd control, and summoning. (Alternatively, just slaughter everything so well it can't fight back. That didn't work for me in Pillars of Eternity.) I got to the first town and am level 2 - sort of. I have the EXP but have not yet leveled. I wanted to ask y'all about your thoughts on this character. Stats, including from race and background! Fire Godlike Chanter1 (Fire Godlike is for the +Damage Reduction and fire damage on melee hit when below 50% Endurance. The +1 Intelligence also helps!) Might 3 (Summons do my work.) Constitution 18 (I must endure until I can summon.) Dexterity 4 (Summons still do my work.) Perception 19 (I dlslike being interrupted. See also Constitution.) Intelligence 16 (Larger AoEs and longer lingers and better dialog options? Yay!) Resolve 18 (Defense, ahoy!) Chants -Make It Go Faster [blessed Was Wendrigh, Quickest of His Tribe] (Kiting with ranged weapons and escaping hazardous situations are things.) -Sharp Weapon Resistance [Dull the Edge, Blunt the Point] (10% less damage is good.) Invocations -Phantom Pain [but Reny Daret's Ghost, He Would not Rest] (Phantoms have higher Deflection and attack than skeletons.) Skills Lore 3 (I like scrolls.) Mechanics 2 (I like laying and disarming traps.) Others 0 (I'd max Stealth if it meant a strong chance of total 'invisibility' a la Infinity Engine games.) End Current Stats - Begin Prospective Stats Items and Enchantments I plan to wear the highest Damage Reduction I can equip ASAP due to stalling for summons. Stat-wise, what are my priorities? I like all stats, but CON and Perception seem best for my continued not dying. Do I need a crafting/enchanting in-game recipe to perform the crafting or enchanting? What other items are best for me to get, enchant, and use? What enchantments are best? Remember, > > minimal spoilers! < < Prospective Skills -How much Lore do I need to use each level of scroll? -How much Mechanics do I need to unlock everything? How high should my Mechanics skill be otherwise? -How much Stealth is worthwhile? Remember, I can save and reload. -Athletics and Survival: What numbers of these should I have? They don't seem especially useful. Deflection and Prospective Talents As for the future, I've heard I should just stack Deflection (via talents, items, etc.) as high as possible. This means, talent-wise, I take Weapon and Shield Style then 5 stacks of Superior Deflection (+10 Deflection each). This seems... boring, but I know too little of the game to say otherwise. These talents look interesting: -Ancient Memory [Chanter-Only] (Heal while I chant? Awesome! The amount I heal per second? Um...) -Body Control [Any Class] (It's +10% resistance against most stunlocks, but the spirits who target Deflection make Superior Deflection a better choice.) -Fast Runner (+1 movement speed. +5 Deflection vs. disengaging. Kiting still works and this saves me a song most the time. It still stacks with Make It Go Faster.) -Powerful Traps [Any Class] (It's more damage from some traps. How worth it is it?) -Superior Deflection [Any Class] (+10 Deflection. Stacks with itself. Boring but practical.) -Weapon and Shield Style [Any Class] (+6 shield Deflection and my shield's Deflection bonus also applies to my Reflex. Sounds good - tentatively.) Prospective Phrases - Level 1 (+2 @L1, +1 @L3) -Chant of Broken Concentration (Enemies are more likely to experience interruptions in their flailings and castings.) -Chant of Slowly Killing Everything (It does Raw(?) Endurance damage to all foes in the area - slowly. My Might affects damage dealt. This seems like a 'meh' pick,) Prospective Phrases - Level 2 (+1 @L5, L7) -Chant of Disney's Frozen (Only matters if I'm moving away from my foes and they're following in my wake. Having seen how enemies cluster in some sections of this game, this seems like a low priority. See also the Chant of Slowly Killing Everything.) -Chant of Ranged Attacks (I like kiting. This helps me kite. It also relies on kiting. As useful as kiting.) -Chant of the Scaredy Pants (-2 Dexterity and -2 Resolve are just gravy compared to -10 melee and ranged accuracy! Note AoE though, and this is mostly better against melee.) Prospective Phrases - Level 3 (+1 @L9, L11) -Chant of Burning Blades (40 Slash and 40 Burn damage per tick to those near me. Might be worthwhile. Seems better than the Chant of Burning Hands.) -Chant of Burning Hands (Ally attacks do +25 Burn damage. Does Might affect this? Is it worth it?) -Chant of Practical Deflection (+10 Deflection to self and all friendlies in range. A debatably slight improvement over the level 2 version.) Prospective Invocations - Level 1 (+1 @L1, +1@ L2, L4) -Cone of Blown (Stuns foes in melee range then pushes them back slightly. Handy for disengaging. Is another invocation better?) -Cone of Moan (Summons 3 worms from the corpse of any foe that died this fight. Also explodes corpses in range, dealing Crush damage.) -The Thanatos Trio (Summon 3 skeletons. They help flank and deal some damage. Each is ntoably weak, even at level 1. This invocation doesn't scale well.) Prospective Invocations - Level 2 (+1 @L6, L8) -Be Mine! (Charms foes in melee range for 8 seconds. Mine!) -Summon Dragon Babies (Are the 3 units I get with this summon better than the 2 I get with Summon Wisps?) -Summon Wisps (If I get 2 units per summon instead of 3 from the same level ability, they seem more individually powerful. True?) Prospective Invocations - Level 3 (+1 @L10, L12) -Disposable Drake (I summon a drake. Worth it?) -"He Did It! No, He Did It!" (Summon 2 ogres. How does this compare to a lone drake?) -Let It Snow (45-60 Freeze damage - before Might? - to foes around me. I may already have Chant of Burning Blades. I'm not convinced Let It Snow is worth it. Convince me.) End Prospective Stats

This would be more a question for developers, but due to time constrains I've not been reading everything they've said and I have missed something others haven't and can actually shed some light on.
I just saw the post about different stages in the life of a dragon in PoE from wurm to adult dragon, and had to ask if Pillars of Eternity will have high challenge-high reward optional areas/encounters. Normally very large, dangerous encounters/enemies that really have no major impact on the storyline but those who seek to test their party to the limits can try to tackle for the thrill of challenge and achievement. We used to see those a lot in the Final Fantasy games, and even Baldur's Gate saga toyed with the idea (who didn't love/hate Firkraag in BG2?). More recently, Dragon Age has also offered the opportunity to tackle optional high challenge-high reward encounters, though it's fair to say that most if not all of those encounters could be beaten within the main game's context (meaning that it didn't require extra investment beyond the main storyline as in some Final Fantasy games, where beating the toughest challenges was almost a game of its own and definitely much more difficult than beating the actual end boss of the game).
So that's the idea, and the kind of thing I'm asking and very interested on. Can we expect to find some really -really- tough challenges off the beaten path in PoE?
While answering keep in mind we're in the spoiler-free forums.

Hey guys, by now you have probably noticed my tendency to sporadically put up very generalized polls, and this is my latest effort. Essentially, I'm asking everyone to think very hard about why fantasy appeals to us, being fully honest with ourselves in the process. I think that we often tend to fall prey to the allure of crusading under the "fantasy" banner, without really considering what it is about fantasy that specifically appeals to us. There are many potential answers for this, and I believe that they have different implications for design philosophy, so I think it's important that this is considered. Poll answers are anonymous for the record.

A friendly match, Community vs Developers. I challenged Adam jokingly on Twitter and he said "Sure. I'd be down". So who's interested? The current [Team 1] in D&D terms:
Ranger: .Leif.
Priest: Osvir
Wizard: -Open Slot- (Can also be Cipher, Ninja)
Fighter: -Open Slot- (Can also be Paladin, Barbarian)
Rogue: -Open Slot- (Can also be Fighter, Assassin, Cipher)
In League of Legends terms:
ADC: .Leif.
Support: Osvir
Mid Lane, AP: -Open Slot-
Top Lane, Tank: -Open Slot-
Jungle: -Open Slot-
I live in CET (Central European Time), that is 9 hours ahead of California and 6 hours ahead of New York. GMT+1.
Here you can search for your city. Which days works best for you? - Weekdays - Weekends Weekends would work best for me. Saturday. I'll use Indira's method #IdeasNotForgotten.
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday: |
Sunday:
As I won't be able to edit this post, I will simply copy+paste the list of participants and positions and update the thread rather than update this post. Looking forward to play with you

What does that mean? The player is given specific abilities to deal with situations. Then, the developer designs a level and realizes a player ability may trivialize whatever silly challenge they came up with. So, they weasel out that player ability by bypassing it in code or putting in some invisible trigger to shut it off.
Example: The player is given a levitate spell, you hover a few feet off the ground and damage breaks the spell. Later, a level is designed with pits of fire. In testing levitate makes it a cake-walk. Now you could have fire fall from the sky in a patten that will break levitate; in which case the player has to figure that out. Or, the developer can weasel out the use of that ability all together by putting an invisible fire damage layer at the levitate height. The former doesn't bother me, the latter annoys me to no end.
I've run across this twice in NWN2 now. I'm outside Ammon Jerro's haven and I need to get some water from a geyser. I read the lead in and it states that you need to be careful of the acid. What do I do? Why I have the gith cast Energy Immunity: Acid of course. What happens? I step in, 60 damage from "Acid (Magical)". I smell a weasel!
Please don't do this sort of thing in PE. It's not challenging, it just gives me one more reason to think that non-DPS spells simply aren't worth keeping memorized. I mean, if it isn't going to work when I stop and think, "oh yea, I have a tool for that." Nope, sorry... that tool doesn't work as it makes it too easy. Really? Then why bother giving me tools at all? And, expecting me to waste slots on them if they're just going to get dodged by the code every time I realize one of them might be useful?

I've always liked some good puzzles (such as choosing the right combination to unlock a door), mini challenges (such as selecting one of your characters to beat a series of foes in a sequence of rooms) and labyrinths (both spacial and temporal) inside cRPG's, specially inside dungeons, castles, etc.